No. Just. No.

Are you serious?

News story:

Michael Vick Wants to Own a Dog Again

MICHAEL VICK is legally barred from ever owning a dog again . . . for obvious reasons. But Vick thinks he's ready for a new pet. And he thinks it would actually help him.

--He says, quote, "I would love to get another dog in the future. I think it would be a big step for me in the rehabilitation process.

--"I think just to have a pet in my household and to show people that I genuinely care, and my love, and my passion for animals."

--Vick blames his upbringing for not knowing that dogfighting was wrong . . . quote, "When I was younger I got caught up in dog fighting . . . It was something to do.

--"I hate to use our culture as an excuse. It is what it is. I love animals. I love dogs. I love birds. I love all types of animals. But this is just the way I was brought up. Nobody ever told me it was the wrong thing to do."

--Vick says that he works with the Humane Society and goes out on speaking engagements . . . even though the courts don't make him. And he claims he's learned his lesson.

--He says, quote, "Dogfighting is prominent all across the country, and I know it goes on in a lot of different urban areas.

--"A lot of kids have probably seen it happening before. Hopefully, they're not involved in it, and hopefully they take away from what happened in my situation and avoid it at all costs."

(--Should Michael Vick own a dog? I know very few dog lovers would say yes. But the guy did serve his time, after all. Aren't we supposed to be about giving people second chances? Discuss.)

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No really, I'm curious internets, what do you think?

If you've spent five seconds on this blog you know what I think, but... How the eff can this guy go around saying he loves animals but didn't know brutally murdering them was WRONG? No. Fail. Get the eff out. I have ZERO patience for people who hurt animals for fun. None. It's just flat out wrong.

I was talking with someone the other day that was actually MORE disgusted about Brett Farve and his sexting and apparently small package. Is what Brett Farve did wrong? Sure. But guess what, I'm way more willing to forgive a little sexting than I am an animal murderer.

People often mistake animals as lesser beings. That they don't feel. That they don't have little personalities and memories and love just as much as human beings do. They're wrong. Animals love fiercely, loyally and most of all unconditionally. They put their blind faith in their human companions. And this is why we should protect them. They give us love, companionship, laughter, some help us walk/see/take our medication/call 911 if we pass out, some help kids learn to read, some help people with social anxiety, some comfort the dying... Animals work for us, care for us and trust us. We should protect them and we should see people that hurt them as absolute villains, as we should see any one who preys on anyone that is helpless and or unable to protect themselves.

I can not point to and re-post this article in Sports Illustrated enough. Look at what Michael Vick's dogs did after they were rescued. These are dogs he would have had shot, electrocuted, drowned, mauled, had beaten to death or tied to a tree to die in the woods because he "didn't know" it was wrong.

So no, I don't think Michael Vick should even be allowed to own a goldfish again, much less a dog or a cat or well anything. I'm not even cool with his return to football and the fact that everyone is so ready to stand up and act like he's some kind of a hero because he served his jail time and now can run faster, jump higher and play harder than before.

Who Dat Nation!

Yeah, I blog a lot about the Seattle Seahawks, who are my team of choice. But in my family we also keep the Saints as our back up team. I mean hello, one of the guys playing for them has the same name as my dad. I have a lot of other personal reasons for giving the Saints mad love and respect. Drew Brees is a class act all the way around and I can't think of a quarterback I would have liked to see in a superbowl as much as my own, that isn't him. Also I'm just a little in love with Scott Fujita, politically. Seriously, he's almost the perfect man.

But there is more to it than all that.

When Hurricane Katrina happened I was home visiting my folks and I remember watching the storm start and my heart just sinking. It looked so flipping awful and I do have a handful of friends back there. I spent the next few weeks watching that city get first destroyed and then get redestroyed by shoddy relief efforts. I cried watching these images on television of Americans suffering in their own country and watching the people who were supposed to protect them, ignore them. I mean really, four days to get relief down there? Stupid. Short sighted. Wrong. Those are the gentlest words I can use.

About two years ago I saw the show No Reservations with Anthony Bourdain and he did a New Orleans episode and even still things down there aren't fixed completely. And it stirred up the same anger and sadness in me that watching the initial hurricane did.

It seems silly, especially if you don't follow sports how much the Saints mean to these people, especially this year. But it means everything to a lot of them. A good friend of mine is a huge Saints fan and he has family in Louisiana and is still angry, obviously, about how Katrina was handled. Yesterday was probably one of the happiest days he's had in a long time. He was on the phone with his family off and on through the game and it was pretty touching. Hell, I remember watching them reopen the Superdome a few years ago and just bawling, because the people there were so excited to have it back.

We partied. We had a blast. We cheered for the Saints. I cheered for an entire city of people who got hosed by Mother Nature a few years ago. I thought of you Louisiana. I thought of the people there.

And yeah, we drank a lot of beer too. There was that.